


stay with me, even if it's just this once

by iceyspicey



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Everyone Is Alive, Fluff and Angst, Fuck Canon, Gay Keith (Voltron), Help, I Tried, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Minor Adam/Shiro (Voltron), No beta we die like Adam, One Shot, Pining Lance (Voltron), but hes alive in this fic, i dont think its angsty enough and im not very happy with how i wrote this, this is also brain mush im so sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:47:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27430732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iceyspicey/pseuds/iceyspicey
Summary: “Of course you weren’t listening.” He shakes his head. “I need to tell you something important.”Lance feels his shoulders tense up. The mood has shifted as Keith looks away, not making eye contact. His smile is gone and now replaced with a soft frown.“Well?” Lance cocks a brow, his voice teasing “C’mon Kogane, spit it out.”“I have to go back to space,” Keith blurts out.And just like that, Lance’s almost perfect world shatters.orKeith has to leave for yet another mission. Lance just wants him to stay for once.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 102





	stay with me, even if it's just this once

**Author's Note:**

> aaaaa !! kinda not happy with how this turned out bc i dunno if i can write angst very well whoops !! i hope it's okay !! klance is a big comfort ship of mine and i hope i could do these boys justice :")  
> this is un beta'd !! so no editing, just my midnight mind mush  
> please don't hesitate to leave critique in the comments !! i really appreciate it, it helps me grow !!

“Keith, I swear to God if you hang up I’ll come over there and smack you myself,” Lance shrieks, glaring intensely at the screen displaying Keith’s face. “Don’t make me do it, Kogane!”

The raven-haired boy lets out a chuckle. “I won’t hang up on you, Lance.”

“You better not,” he huffs, his stare losing its seriousness as he begins to laugh as well. His body shakes as he looks up at the screen and grins.

Video calls have become their new norm seeing as they now live miles away from each other; Lance living in Varadero while Keith’s stuck at the Garrison working with Shiro and Adam. They call regularly, at least once a week minimum. If their schedules allow for it, they video chat every day for hours on end.

After all, they spent two years in a huge castle together for the majority of the time. It doesn’t feel right to either of them to not talk every day; it doesn’t feel right to not talk to anyone on the ship. Lance forgets the others don’t live just down the hall anymore, especially Keith. The Cuban boy often finds himself calling out for Keith to come spar, or walking down the hall at midnight to check on Pidge, only to be reminded that they don’t live together anymore.

He won’t admit it, but Lance misses his dumbass rival. Or well, ex-rival now. He and Keith get along much better now that they’ve passed their teenaged and young adult years. Hormones and all of that loveliness out of the way allowed for the boys to grow into the “mature adults” they are now.

Nonetheless, Lance misses him. He misses their stupid banter, the painful kicking of shins during meals, the way Keith could always rely on him in battle.

But he understands. It’s not like he expected to live with Keith forever, but he longs to be able to poke his head into Keith’s room and ask if the boy is hungry.

“Lance? Hello? Lance, are you listening?” Keith’s annoyed voice breaks through his thoughts.

He rubs his neck sheepishly. “Sorry, sorry. What were you saying?”

Keith crosses his arms and rolls his eyes, a fond grin spread across his lips. “Of course you weren’t listening.” He shakes his head. “I need to tell you something important.”

Lance feels his shoulders tense up. The mood has shifted as Keith looks away, not making eye contact. His smile is gone and now replaced with a soft frown.

“Well?” Lance cocks a brow, his voice teasing “C’mon Kogane, spit it out.”

“I have to go back to space,” Keith blurts out.

And just like that, Lance’s almost perfect world shatters. “What do you mean you have to go back? In case you didn’t notice the war’s over, Kogane.”

A sigh is heard from the video call. “I know it’s over, Lance. But I’m part of that organization, remember? The one that I literally lead?”

“Oh. Yeah, I remember.”

“Yeah, I gotta go back to space. Kolivan called me yesterday to say we have a mission there and that I need to lead it.”

Of course you have to lead it, Lance thinks bitterly. “Great.”

Why does it have to be him? They’ve only been on Earth for about a year and Keith’s been gone for around half of the time delivering things for his organization. Why can’t he just stay for once? He just came back from a mission a few weeks ago and now he has to leave again.

“You’re not mad, are you?” Lance looks up. Keith’s shoulders have curled inwards and his eyes hold a strange sort of sadness. He chews on his nail nervously. “I know we only really started calling again because I left recently, but I have to take this job. It sucks but I’m supposed to be leading them and I—”

“Whoa, calm down there, Keith,” Lance cuts him off. He gives a half-hearted smile and tries to make it look as realistic as possible. “I’m not mad, I promise.”

Keith breathes a sigh of relief. “Okay, promise not to be mad at this part too?”

Lance nods. Keith’s violet eyes stare into his as he says, “I’ll be gone for three months.”

Lance’s mouth goes dry. His stomach sinks. “Three months?” Keith’s nod confirms the words he so desperately wishes weren’t true.

Three months is longer than Keith’s ever been away for. Normally missions are only around a week at most and are on Earth. Even so, Lance misses him while he’s gone for a short amount of time.

He doesn’t know what he’ll do when Keith’s gone for three months.

“Okay.” He plasters a fake grin onto his face. “Don’t worry your pretty little head, Kogane. You’ll probably miss my gorgeous face when you’re out there.”

“You think my head’s pretty?” Soft pink dusts the shorter boy’s cheeks, so faint Lance thinks he imagined it.

“That’s besides the point. So, when do you leave for this extravagant trip, hm?”

“In about two days at noon.”

It’s not enough time.

“Got it. I’ll just have to get in my Keith time before then.”

Keith shakes his head, warm smile back on his face. “Whatever you say, Lance.” He looks at his clock on the wall and curses. “Sorry, I gotta go. I’ve got a meeting with Krolia soon. Talk later?”

Lance bobs his head. “Of course. See ya, Mullet.”

Scowling, Keith says, “it’s not a mullet!”

“Sure, sure. Bye, Keith.”

“Bye, Lance.”

The video call ends and Lance feels his body slump. “Oh God,” he whispers as his body shakes. “He’s really gonna leave again.”

He stares at the now dimmed screen where Keith once was blankly. His bottom lip trembles and the tears begin to roll down his face.

He sits and cries for the remainder of the evening.

* * *

The two days are over before he knows it.

It’s not long enough.

The shrill of his alarm blares in his ear. Lance slams his hand down on the device and forces himself out of bed. As he gets ready for the day, he checks his phone.

He winces as he looks at all the unopened messages from Keith.

 **mullet man**  
Hey, Lance. Do you still want to call?

 **mullet man**  
Come on Lance, it’s our call time.

 **mullet man**  
Lance, this isn’t funny.

He can’t bring himself to look at the rest of the messages so he scrolls to the most recent one. His heart breaks upon seeing it.

 **mullet man**  
I’m sorry, Lance. Please just respond.

He types out a quick apology and makes a decision right there.

He rushes downstairs, grabs a granola bar and runs out the door.

He sprints towards his lion, long legs carrying him.

Red sits right beside his house. She’s rather large and looks out of place yet someone fits perfectly. All the paladins have their lions near their place of residency in case of an emergency.

Lance considers this an emergency.

“Hey girl,” he says. “Gonna need to travel somewhere fast, okay? Can you do that for me?”

He feels her confirmation, confidence flooding through his mind. She’s so different from Blue, he thinks, soft smile on his lips.

He lets out a shaky laugh as he enters her cockpit. Sitting down at her seat is somewhat nostalgic, memories of fighting blurring together as he grips the controls.

“Alrighty Red, just like old times. Let’s go.”

* * *

Red is the fastest of the lions, just ahead of Green. She gets him to his location within a matter of minutes and Lance whoops and hollers.

“Good job, Red! You did perfect.” He guides her downwards and they settle on the hard ground. He feels her purr in his mind as he thanks her once more.

Standing up, he leaves her and stares at the landscape.

The Garrison stands in front of him and he inhales deeply. He counts to six. Exhales.

“Well, let’s do this.” He walks up, grabs onto the door handle and pushes it open.

It’s just as he remembers it. He swiftly walks down the halls, the entirety of the Garrison memorized from pacing the halls during the late nights when he couldn’t focus.

He hears talking in a room and stops to listen for a quick moment. He immediately recognizes Keith's voice and his heart starts to pound.

He takes a deep breath before twisting the knob and opening the door. Inside are Keith, Shiro, and his husband Adam all sitting at a table, chatting. They stare at him and his face flushes.

“Uh… Hi Shiro, how you doing? Hey Adam, nice glasses, you look old,” Lance blabbers, walking into the room. Shiro and Adam glance at each other, clearly confused.

Keith eyes him, a tired expression on his face. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh! Hey, Keith. I’m uh, just here for a visit.” He grins. “Thought I’d y'know, see you off before you left.” He kicks his foot awkwardly.

“Well then,” Shiro says, standing up. Adam copies his action, pushing in his chair. “We’ll be going now. Remember to stay safe okay, Keith? Love you.” The two men walk out the door and Adam pauses.

He turns back around and says, “don’t burn the Garrison down.” He smirks and leaves.

Keith looks back at Lance, crossing his arms. “Why are you here?”

Lance stares at him. “To say goodbye, duh.”

“So you just came to say goodbye?”

Lance stands on his toes then rocks back onto his heels. “Well yeah, I mean friends do that right?”

“Sure, Lance. You haven’t answered any of my messages but you left me on read. Really feeling like your friend right now.” The bitter tone is clear, hurt flashing in Keith’s eyes. “You could have just called me.”

“It wouldn’t have been the same!”

“Oh, the horror.” He backs up, body facing away from Lance.

“Oh my fucking—Keith stop trying to make make me seem like the bad guy!”

The raven-haired man whips around, glaring at the brown-haired one. “Then why are you really here?” he practically screams. “You ignored me, I didn’t think you wanted to even see me anymore!”

“I do want to see you! Why else would I be here?” Lance shouts back.

Keith’s body tenses. “I don’t know, okay? I don’t know why you’re here so please try and englighten me as to why you came all the way here from fucking Varadero—”

“Because I love you!” Lance feels all his pent up emotions threatening to spill, the words he’s been dying to say since he first met him all wanting to come out.

Keith looks at him as if he’s grown a second head. “You… You what?”

“I said,” Lance walks up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder, “because I love you.

“I don’t want you to go, because I know if you go you’ll just end up going back. Over and over, and I know it’s selfish for me to want to keep you here, but I think I’m allowed to be a bit selfish. So much has already been taken from me. My family, my childhood, my friends. I’ve lost so much already, I-I can’t—” His mind is racing, trying to come up with the right words. “I can’t lose you too, Keith.

“I can’t stand the idea of not being able to wake up and talk to you. The very thought of it makes me feel sick. Plus, we’re a team, a good team. A-And teams have to stick together because you can’t be a team on your own. So please, stay with me, even if it's just this once.”

His tears drip onto the floor and his lip wobbles. A thumb comes to his face and wipes away his tears, gently caressing his cheek. He looks back up to see Keith’s gaze has softened.

The shorter boy quickly pulls him into a fierce hug, wrapping his arms around the taller one tightly. “I’m sorry, Lance,” he murmurs. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“‘S okay, Keith.”

“It’s not okay, and I’m sorry I hurt you.” The arms around him loosen and the warmth pulls away. He whimpers and Keith looks at him lovingly. “I’ll stay.”

Those two words send Lance’s heart soaring. “Really?” he asks, all too afraid that this is a cruel dream.

“Really,” Keith confirms.

They lean close, foreheads touching one another. They smile as they clasp hands, the warmth slowly coming back.

Then, so faint that Lance thinks he imagined it, come the words he’s been wanting to hear for years: “I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading !! if you enjoyed, please leave a comment or a kudos !! i love you all and i hope you have a wonderful day/night <3


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